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Sand Lessons

At a recent meeting and “mini-retreat,” FSH staffers had the opportunity to get a little creative (something practiced often around here!).

Empty plastic bottles–all sorts of shapes and sizes–stood ready on a long conference room table. Containers of different colored sand and packages of glitter sat next to them. And instructions were given to choose a color of sand, a packet of glitter, and a plastic bottle that appealed to you (no surprise that FSH Chief Possibility Officer Cathe Dykstra chose the one shaped like a baseball!).

The project was for all the staff members to “layer” each other’s sand in the bottles, using glitter as desired, such that by the time each person’s bottle was full, it served as a visual reminder of the layers of support that it takes for this staff to set about fulfilling the mission of Family Scholar House. No one works alone–and now each staffer’s desk has a sand creation as a tangible expression of that.

The truth is that the sand creations are also expressions of the layers of support surrounding FSH participants on a daily basis. Mentors, tutors, classroom teachers, volunteer office workers, child care helpers, financial donors and donation drive sponsors ALL are regular players in keeping FSH moving onward and upward. Last year alone, 1,081 volunteers walked through the doors of our residential campuses, every single one of them a valuable contributor to the work that happens here.

Layers upon layers of support–provided in myriad ways–all of it working to make our families and our communities stronger.